You may remember that I have made a couple Game of Thrones patterns and tutorials last year. They were rudimentary but got the point across, and have helped several cosplayers achieve a Daenerys Targaryen Qarth costume.

Well I am proud to say that I am re-releasing my first 2 Game of Thrones patterns in a smooth, clean, user-friendly and dare I say... printer-friendly format with optimization in US Letter sized paper (8.5" x 11") and A4 sized paper (210mm x 297mm).

And with watermarks! HA HA!Take that, internets trolls!

I have plenty more drafted up ready to undergo the digitizing process... including some breastplates and an Assassin's Creed Konnor Kenway sewing pattern. I'm always looking for interesting ideas, so if you have one pitch it!

You know how you picture something in your mind's eye and usually you fail horribly but other times it comes out exactly how you imagined it? Well I have finally FINALLY gotten around to learning some new things and I am very proud of my new work! Using a combination of several programs I pieced together what I consider a solid pattern, worthy of providing costumers with a good template to work from.

Well after the first official month of marriage now, it's about time I blog about my awesome wedding!

It got described by lots of people as "the Game of Thrones wedding." Once word got out that we had capes, it was kind of hard to contain, but there was no blood, no murder, no backstabbing, no castles or knights, and no political intrigue and no arranged marriages! (As far as I know...) It was nothing like what this amazing hardcore fan couple did with professional make up artists and costumery. Awesome though, right?!

My wedding actually was very centered around a Japanese theme with a few GoT nods. (More about the Japanese elements coming up in separate posts.) I couldn't decide so I had both; eat your heart out David Tutera! Once we made the decision that the groomsmen gifts were going to be some sexy sleek Kingsguard-inspired capes, it was only natural that they WEAR them and look BADASS in the ceremony! I was really just going for the badass factor here. It was hard to say no to cloaked groomsmen (although I did think about it... lol, just kidding.)

There were a lot of things that happened that weren't really traditional, because we really wanted to do this thing our way. And Mike and I are total nerds and we have a fantastic group of friends that are just as nerdy as us and indulge us in our quirks. That's where the "Kingsguard" capes come in. Probably the best groomsman gift ever, am I right?! My mom-in-law and her friend actually made them all themselves, and they did an amazing job. These guys look so magnificently epic! Just look at them!

There was another nod to GoT with the "cloaking of the bride". Because I didn't want to be left out without a cape of my own. This was actually borrowed from my mom-in-law, and it was the cloak she's worn for her Melisandre cosplay!

And if you're wondering, the "Rains of Castamere" DID play! "Whaatt?!?!? Did anyone get slaughtered!? I don't understand! How could you!?" It began with our friend Shaun making a toast, and calling Mike the "king" or our group of friends. Next thing we know the eerily familiar song came on (totally planned ahead of time with our DJ apparently) and Mike and I exchanged looks for one second before all the groomsmen attacked him with nerf guns and he went down. The boys grabbed me and hoisted me away from the party. Honestly, it's all kind of a big blur!

Now, you must understand a little bit of an interesting Romanian tradition called the stealing of the bride. At some point during the wedding, the groomsmen steal the bride and take her away and hide her - at which point the groom must go find her and bribe the groomsmen. The bribe usually involves... alcohol (that's my understanding anyway!) The boys took me to another part of the venue where there was some alcohol stashed away, and after Shaun's toast was done and we all figured out what just happened, Mike bribed the guys with some shots of Fireball for my release back to the party. I had NO IDEA that they were planning any of this, much less incorporating this tradition, and it was all a very pleasant surprise, and very, very well executed! *ahem*

Here are a few more GoT related photos from our awesome photographer Emily Southern Star Photography! I am in awe of this awesome lady's skills every time I look through the entire album!

Right before ConCarolinas 2014 I was contacted by a photographer from the New York Times, and the unique opportunity presented itself: photoshoot with George R. R. Martin! I still can’t believe how the stars aligned to have this happen! *so happy*

So this was the big secret I was keeping from you guys since we had to wait for the article to run in the papers first, and then to receive the photos too (and then I got married, and was too busy!)

It was my group along with a couple of others including a Khal Drogo and Jaime Lannister (@Christopher Franklin). His photo got chosen to run in the papers, and I am really glad that he got to show off his amazing craftsmanship for it! He doesn’t have a cosplay page, and I reckon he needs one! There are a few more photos available, but I have only shared here the ones with my group since I am not sure I can share the ones with the other cosplayers.

As far as integrating tutorials on Tumblr… what do you guys like seeing? Text with photos under a cut? Photo album on an external site?

This is my first time really utilizing Picasa online. I love the desktop interface, but online I’m just not sure yet. What do you guys think? I use a ton of apps and sites, but I am pretty Google-loyal… ;)

As far as integrating tutorials on Tumblr… what do you guys like seeing? Text with photos under a cut? Photo album on an external site?

Read & view below my tutorial on how I created my Drogon egg!

Materials: plastic easter egg, medium to large size, round paper punch, and several thin sheets of craft foam. I used 2-3 packs of 32 sheets. The thinnest I have found have been at Dollar Tree.

Begin punching all the sheets! Once you get in a groove it becomes easy. If the craft foam sheet is too thick using the circle punch will not work.

Cut each of the circles into a tip. Because this part is done by hand, a more organic look is achieved and each scale does not come out exactly the same. This is why I do not use a guitar pick shaped punch.

Begin hot gluing! Cover the top with a round bit on each end. I messed this part up, and I should have started on the other end. Dragon scales will point downwards from the pointy tip of the egg, not the other way around! Ooops!

See what I did? Just reverse it. :)

Covering up the round bits you placed at each end of the egg with some more scales.

I did a little bit of distressing to the craft foam by taking a medium sized jagged rock I had and started started raging on it! I drageed it a bit, but mostly started just punching it. If you used sufficient hot glue the scales will not budge!

I used a few layers of Mod Podge (the finish here doesn’t matter. I think I have a gloss.) The great thing about using Mod Podge is that when it dries it makes a nice and organic seal around the edge of each scale. I just used an old paint brush to apply it. The blah thing about Mod Podge - it’s pretty great at covering up small imperfections - so a lot of the distress marks that I made do not appear as pronounced after a few layers.

Take your egg and start priming it! I use an IKEA bag and a dish or sink strainer/dryer thingy for all my spraypainting. Make sure you are outdoors, and wear a respirator if you got one!

These are the primers and paint I used.

Obligatory POP! photoBefore gradient painting.

The final painting: I used the same technique Kamui talks about in her book on Cosplay Painting. I mixed black and red acrylics, and went to town on it. It may not look like it in the picture, but after I had spraypainted it a basic black, I went over it with a mixed dark reddish brown. I then added some red to the base of each scale, and black on the tip. This created a much more organic and natural gradient. This part took about 2 hours to complete.

I turned up the contrast a bit, this is much more true to color! One option I thought about trying was adding the crusted texture to one end. There are numerous ways to adding texture to paint such as salts, sand, or any other kind of grainy texture depending on what effect you want with it. I think I will try that on my next egg - when I will also make the scales to face the right way!

A question for Robb Stark:"How do you get ahead in the game of thrones?"My friends and I had a total blast watching the season finale of Game of Thrones! We dressed up and relived some great memories with Robb Stark, drank some honeywine, and watched the last episode! I am really not sure how we will be able to survive until the next season.

I wanted to release the tutorial for my breastplate pattern for a while now. There are many tutorials on the internet for creating props and costumes, but not any (that I've seen to date) for creating this specific piece. This is a step-by-step walk-through, the only catch is that it follows along with my pattern.

My purpose for releasing this is to give the people who do buy my pattern a concise preview of the difficulty of assembly, as well as tips and tricks before they get started on their own. I am not affiliated with Game Of Thrones. This is something I created for a costume I cosplayed.